fall on
Britishverb
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Also: fall upon. to attack or snatch (an army, booty, etc)
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to fail, esp in a ridiculous or humiliating manner
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to emerge unexpectedly well from a difficult situation
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Also, fall upon.
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Attack suddenly and viciously, as in They fell on the guards and overpowered them . [c. 1400]
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Meet with, encounter, as in They fell on hard times . [Late 1500s]
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Find by chance, discover, as in We fell upon the idea last Saturday night . [Mid-1600s]
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Be the responsibility or duty of someone, as in It fell on Clara to support the entire family . [Mid-1800s] Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with fall on .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
‘It’s an experience that a lot of caregivers have, where it tends to fall on one sibling’s shoulders.’
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
SpaceX shares closed at $156.11 with a nearly 1% gain on Tuesday, a slight recovery from a 16% fall on Monday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
In the worst-affected areas, the Met Office has forecast that temperatures could reach up to 40C with the peak of the heatwave anticipated to fall on Wednesday and Thursday.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
The impact of these changes isn’t going to be evenly distributed—and could fall on families and workers who can least afford them.
From Barron's ● Jun. 20, 2026
Tears fall on the counter as quickly as I can wipe them away.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
